T HE TWO BOOKS, How I Became a Christian and Japan and the Japanese by Uchimura Kanz6 were originally intended to advocate the cause of Japan to the Western world but found an audience far different from what their author had expected. They now occupy a respected place in the literature of his own people though they remain relatively unknown among the audience for whom he originally wrote. Uchimura was a Christian convert who flourished as an essayist and teacher in Japan from the i890's until his death in i930. His copious popular works on ethics and exegesis of the Bible are frequently reprinted and sold, while many of those who studied under him as young men have since World War II occupied positions of influence in molding Japan's new liberal institutions. Among these, two presidents of Tokyo University and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Japan have attributed their own moral stature to Uchimura's influence and are famous as his disciples. Neither Uchimura's writings nor what his disciples say about his influence provide an easy answer to one who wishes to understand why he remains so influential. In fact, it is two acts rather than any of his writings or statements which history remembers most vividly. His refusal to bow before the Imperial Rescript on Education in i89i and his decision to become a pacifist in I903 in the face of Japan's imminent declaration of war are seen as outstanding examples of the democratic conscience in action. That he in his life demonstrated how conscience should be one's guide comes perhaps as close as any one-sentence summary could to a correct evaluation of his historical contribution, but it does not explain why these acts seem so significant. Acquaintance over a number of years with many of those whom Uchimura deeply influenced and with Uchimura's own works leads to the conclusion that he lives on in Japanese history for reasons not immediately connected with these two acts alone. They impress his fellows as important because in them, as in his written works, he faced problems which deeply perplexed them. Japanese readers who feel great indebtedness to him often imply that he dealt with problems which they themselves felt but could not